Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Snowdonia ML trip

Last weekend a large group of scouts descended upon the Ogwen valley in Snowdonia as somebody somewhere thinks we have what it takes to be trusted in the mountains with the lives of unknowingly innocent people... Good thing that the leaders responsible for our selection didn't know what we were up to before the course started (until now.. Oops!).

So after a late night of driving after work from Exeter a couple of us met Jed, Richard and Andy at the Scout owned Yr Hafod center in Ogwen. You could tell that there were no official leaders there and just lads due to the presence of Lucy, 23 from Cirencester (sourced from page 3) blue tacked to the wall below the clock.. Good work boys!

So the first day (after a massive gut-reshaping breakfast) me, Jed, Richard and Andy headed to the Llanberis slate quarries with the aim of taking on Snakes and Ladders (and Tunnels).. This is essentially a white-knuckle tour around/across/inside some of the biggest man made holes in North Wales using bits of old metal work like dodgy ladders and free-hanging chains, squeezing through collapsed/rotting tunnels, abseiling of rusted bolts or un-crag-swagable tat (so yea the whole thing requires a slight "ahh somebody has done it before so it won't break on me" attitude..). Probably not for the faint hearted, but otherwise a total laugh! In a nut-shell it weaves a clever line through California to Australia, finishing in the Lost World and Mordor (and no we were not eating mushrooms as we went, these are genuinely the names of the various quarries!).

The way into California

Andy stretching it out in Austrailia.. No need for sun cream today!

Typically at about lunchtime it started raining. So we went to Petes Eats and all spent our remaining money on cups of tea and climbing gear from V12... Who knew the Welsh weather loved the Welsh economy so much! If you want more info on the route there is a great blog about it here - http://snakesladdersandtunnels.blogspot.co.uk/

Wet 'n' wild Wednesday. Now that's an understatement! Because of a poor forecast (heavy showers, freezing temps and 60mph winds to be specific) we initially curbed our ambition but then decided fu*k it and set out to do Overlapping ridge route high on the East Face of Tryfan. It was still raining at the base of the route, and the rock was totally gopping. Unswayed by this as the grade is only Difficult we gave it a bash. The route follows a shattered rib from the heather terrace up to a large pinnacle and finally up some weirdly contorted rock strata toward the summit. 160m in total, every single inch of it was indeed under about 3 inches of water which felt at times as if it were actual ice (and i know ice!). Climbing as two parties we made good progress but not without Rob moaning about muddy holds as they were the following pair. He should be thankful, by the time us three at the front had been over them we had warmed up the hold removed most of the water at least!

Looking down the last pitch towards the pinnacle in blustery conditions

Because we made the executive decision to climb in big boots, and the fact the rocks were wetter than a nun in a sex shop, all technical footwork went out the window and a workman-esque approach more suited to a brick layer had to be adopted. So after topping out in a minor snowstorm we decided to head down, at which point somebody turned off the sun! After scrambling maps, head torches we eventually made it back to the center and all had a fight over who was getting the shower first. The only challenge that remained was the massive create of beer which needed defeating!

Some happy boys at the top!

Tryfan with actual sunshine on it (yes it does happen sometimes!)

So the next few days was a mixture of micro-navigation, macro-nav and night nav as well as some rope work. A definite highlight was when Jed learned the 'don't use indirect belays if you can avoid it' lesson whereby having a rope round his waist tied to a rock, then again round his waist tied to me, which i then had to load at which point the instructor Steve, jumped on and loaded it as well which not only rearranged Jed's kidneys but also gave him a face not to dissimilar to a women in labor.. What a good sport ey! The weekend was finished with a swim in the river apparently practicing river crossings.. Funny that the instructors didn't feel the need to come into the water waist deep and have there nadgers freeze off..

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More about Sam

I live for everything outdoors and to me a bad day in the hills still beats a good day in the office. Climbing and mountaineering are my main passion, you may have already guessed that from my blog content though! If you have any questions about my blog or anything at all don't hesitate to get in touch.